Tamarac A Town With A `Lotto' Luck

Someone bought a Lotto ticket in Tamarac last week that on Saturday won $33 million. The person was the only one in the state to pick the numbers: 12-22-28-34-36-40.

This isn't the first time Tamarac has struck it rich in the many different Florida Lottery games:

-- Two weeks ago, R.J. "Bunny" Tamburello of Tamarac was one of 50 people to win Ford Mustangs from a Florida Lottery giveaway.

-- A year ago, on July 31, 1993, Susan Robbins of Tamarac won $3.2 million - one-ninth of a $28.76 million jackpot. Two weeks later she flew to Tallahassee with the winning ticket taped to her stomach.

-- Two years ago, in June 1992, Karyn Kachlany stopped in a Tamarac gas station and bought five Fantasy Five tickets. She won $703,676.

-- In 1988, South Florida's first big Lottery winner - $1 million in a St. Patrick's Day drawing - was a Lauderdale Lakes man who purchased his ticket in Tamarac.

"It's a lucky city," Mayor Norman Abramowitz said on Sunday. "I expect hordes of people to rush in and look for homes tomorrow."

A lot of people buy tickets in Tamarac. The Florida Lotto game started in July 1988, and in its first 12 months, the state's top ticket-seller was a Publix grocery at Midway Plaza on University Drive in Tamarac.

On Sunday, Lottery officials announced that the only place selling a ticket with the winning combination was in Tamarac. There are 27 stores selling Lotto tickets in Tamarac, but Lottery officials won't reveal which one sold the ticket until the winner steps forward, Raines said.

That winner has enough money to burn, literally. With $33 million, the winner could burn a dollar bill every minute around the clock every day of the year for nearly 63 years.